HHIHH 




-rim- - i 




(J 1 Q i; 




. n 1 i^^^^^^H 




'^^^^^^^H 


l^^^^^^^l 


.1 

1 





LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



DDDDblHOaVD 



o , t * /\ 



■ **' ** '-j^ir/ j-x -yw.' r-^-^ 










iff' A^-A 

















°. %^** "'ife'-' ^--/ •*^'°. %^** 








J/^ 



\"-^ O R ^V T I O M" 



BY 



HON. S. S. HARDING. 



CHIEF JUSTICE OF COLORADO, 



i»iiiirrEREr> at thb 



DENVER THEATRE, IN THE (ITY OF DENVER, 



jr<^\:>x-\.x^Ty and, 18G4, 



DENVER, COLORADO: 

Byers <fe Dailey, Printers -Rocky Mountain News Office. 

1864. 







I 



•0^ 



CORRESPONDENCE. 

Committee Rooms for the 22nd of Feb. Celebration, \ 
Denver City, February 5, 1864. / 

Hon. S. S. Harding, Chief Justice, ^c. : 

Dear Sir : — The Union men of Denver propose to cele- 
brate the approaching anniversary of" the birth of Washington, 
by appropriate commemorative exercises. I am requested by 
the committee of arrangements to invite you to deliver an 
oration upon that occasion. 

Trusting that your arrangements may be such as to enable 
you to give us those counsels and reflections which the occa- 
sion and the MAN suggest. 

I have the honor to remain, 

Respectfully yours, 

Henry C. Leach, 

Ch'n Com. Ar. 
REPLY. ^ 

Denver, Col. Ter. Feb. 5, 1864. ^ 
Henry C Leach, Chairman, cfc. 

Dear Sir :-^Your kind and flattering note of this date, 
inviting me on behalf of a committee of the Union League, 
to deliver an address on the occasion of the approaching anni- 
versary of the birthday of Washington, has been received, 
and I take this opportunity to thank you for the same. With 
many doubts as to my ability to do justice on the occasion to 
which you refer, yet I have concluded to accept your kind 
invitation, and will endeavor to respond to the same. 

I am, your obedient servant, 

S. S. Harding. 



6 

It would seem, Mr. President, that on this occasion there 
might have remained little else to be done than the reading of 
the Farewell Addit.i6 of the Father of his Country. But as 
such is not the programme laid down, I make my appearance 
before you, with much diffidence, unprepared as lam with any 
thin<f worthy of so ijreut an occasion, and the intelligent au- 
dience that surrounds me. 

The name of Washin;j:ton is known in all climes where the 
human race has emerged from a state of barbarism. 
Whenever that name is pronounce<I, whether on land or sea, 
by the peasant at his toil or the sceptered monarch on his 
throne, it is with veneration that only belongs to the greatest 
benefactors of our race, who have spent their lives in the cause 
of liberty and human progress. 

^ The history of the world is but little else than a compila- 
tion of the acts and opinions, of men, who have stamped the 
eras in which they have liyed with glory or shame. And yet 
twhen, we; turn over the record of the mighty past, and.ponsider 
that not one name in a million of all the myriads of earth, 
has been transmitted to the third generation that has come 
after it, we find but little indeed to pamper our vanity, or 
pride of self esteem, unless we found our hopes on something 
more enduring than mere earthly glory and fame. The stu- 
dent of history can mention a few score names of the repre- 
sentative meii of the past wl^ch have come down to us, but as 
we explore the river of time, long before we reach the source 
of that mysterious flood we grope our way in darkness, and 
stand gizing into the dim unknown with hesitation and doubt, 
if not with superstitious fear. , , ., jj^,^ |,,^, . ;,, 

As each people have arisen to nationality and power, there 
have been carried along with their rise, culmination and fall, 
the controlling ideas which entered into their social and polit- 
ical organization, and upon which depended their fate as a 
nation. The ultimate destiny which has ever awaited a peo- 
ple, has been determined by the moral forces which have been 
nurtured in the heart of ; the nation itself, no matter whether 
it be found in the breast of a single ruler, or in the masses 



of its constituent members — and in the same proportion as 
these forces have been made to haimonize Avith the moral law., 
of the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, (no matter by what 
name that Almighty Po^ver may have been called), so have all . 
governments become steadfast and enduring, or, on the con-,, 
trary, as this law has been violated their dangers have in- 
creased on every hand. I appeal to the history of the world, 
to the history of man in all of his relations in life, for the 
truth of this proposition. It is so manifest, that it may be, 
set down as an axiom. The opinions and ideas of the living 
generations of men, are founded, to a great extent, on the, 
opinions of those who have preceded them, and they, too, in,, 
their turn, founded their ideas on the moral and physical phe- 
nomena by which they were surrounded. Thus it is that to a 
certain extent, our opinions and ideas, both in religion and 
morals, go backward as well as^ forward, and not only the, 
present, but the past generations of nien, are more or less 
responsible_for their inherent qualities, whether ihey^be right 
or wrong. This would be but a sadj^picture indeed, if we did 
not consider that man was a sentient being, progressive inhisjj 
ideas, capable of analyzing principles, and drawing conclu-| 
sions from well known premises, lie is capable of reasoning . 
from cause to effect, and in the same proportion as light is 
shed upon his soul, he becomes ro>ponsible to Uod in the given 
ratio that his judgment has become informed. The eras of 
light and darkness which have fallen on the nations of the ; 
earth may be clearly traced to their superind icing causes, if 
all the facts were before us ou which our min(.s could aci. 

Few are the forms of gcn^ernment that liave not beei ;;>. "r<> 
duced amongst men. Monarchies, absolute and^constitutional, 
have been the most common, and seemingly the most i 
steadfast _^and enduring, and hence their almost universal 
adoption as the normal condition of society. Political essay-' 
ists have assented, without contradiction, until a very modern 
period, that these are the only forms of government which 
could defy the inherent forces of discontent which are sup- 
posed to be ever slumbering in the bosom of society itself. 



v.\^. 



(if 



It must be confessed that these opinions were not without rea- 
sons for their adoption. 

The history of all Republics is only a history of triumphs 
and disastrous failures, and after a few decades or centuries 
at most, the torch of Liberty has become extinguished, and a 
starless night of despotism has settled on the whole land. 
The reason is obvious. If we go back to the time of the 
most famous of all the ancient republics, and study the frame 
work of their organization, we will find but few of ih6'de 
principles upon which a true and just government is based. 
These republics were in fact but a species of close corporations, 
where the rights and attributes of citizens belonged only to 
the favored few, whilst those who were not citizens, could eii-^ 
joy none of those rights, which we as a people claim to hold 
at the hands of no earthly government, but at the hands of 
our Creator. '"^" 

Such, indeed, were the famous republics of Greece and 
Rome. They undoubtedly possessed many of those qualities 
which develop a high order of civilization, and we must admit 
that the statesmen and philosophers of those times had made 
far ndvanccment from the darkness and barbariani,-m from 
which they emerged. 

And yet with all the light that has beamed through unknown 
centuries, man has been slow to learn hi> true relationship to 
his fellow man or to his Creator. Those who had been taught 
in the schools of Socrates, Plato and Pythagoras, might well 
have had some faint glimmerings of this rel'atidhship, for 
these lessons "vyere indeed the evangels of the promised Christ. 
In the administration of these (^uasi Republics there were ex- 
hibited some of the noblest examples of justice and godlike 
patriotism. 

But they were destined to fall from their own inherent 
weakness, and 

"Like the baseless fabric of a vision, 
Leave not a wreck behind." 

And why should this have been otherwise? The violation 
of the laws of nature, whether in the material or moral uni- 
verse, produces the same phenomena, so far as moral and ma- 



9 3 /S 

torial forces may be compared. On the one hand, convulsionp, 
earthquakes, tempests and lightning, disease and death, and 
on the other, the demoralization of the masses, an inordinate 
love of gain that hesitates at no obstacle, ignorance, supersti- 
tion, hypocracy, practical atheism, national decay, and finally 
revolution reaching far down to the very foundation of society 
itself. Yet notwithstanding these unmistakeable phenomena, 
Man, in all ages, has been slow to profit by their teachings. 
Centuries after centuries have passed since the advent of that 
new and better dispensation, the mission and office of which 
is to comfort the poor and the lowly, and those who mourn, to 
open the prison doors, to unloose the heavy burdens, to break 
every yoke, and let the oppressed go free, before its professed 
teachers comprehended the universality of its adaptation to all 
the wants of our natures, as well as to all demands of the 
highest possible civilization of our race. 

Even at this age of the world, in the midst of the light of 
the nineteenth century, with the logic of history before us, 
we hesitate to draw conclusions, which are as plain and inevit- 
able as the law of numbers in the solution of the simplest 
mathematical problem. It was remarked long ago by a chris- 
tian philosopher, that "the promise of the word of life is to 
him that doeth the word, and not to him who speaketh it, 
though he believeth it, and doeth it not." This applies as 
well to nations as to individuals. It matters therefore but 
little what fair sentences and phrases of speech may be found 
in the prefessions of men, or in individual or national com- 
pacts, if these compacts are violated, or such professions are 
disregarded. Indeed it would add to the enormity of the 
breach itself, in proportion as the promises were fair and un- 
mistakeablc on their face. I might elaborate this idea with 
many illustrations, but^time will not permit. 

But what must be the moral guilt of the individual or gov- 
ernment that has covenanted, not only with man. but with 
Almighty God, and that has deliberately sealed the same with 
his own soul, or the nation's life, for its faithful performance, 
and afterwards deliUcrati'ly violated the same. And what is 

(2) 



10 

a nation or government, but an aggregate of men, expressing 
their will through some constituted medium. Such a govorn- 
mentis ours. Sucli is the wonderful nation to which wo helong. 
known as the United States of America. Compos- d in the 
aggregate, not only of millions and millions of freemen, whose 
decadal increase is without a parallel in the. history. . of , our 
race, hut also of States and communities, trrander in ttiein'. 
social and political relations than any ]>ower of the old world, 
yet subordinate to that grandest of all natioiuilitios, the Unit-''! 
States of .Vmerica. 

The history of America, from the landing of its great dis- 
coverer down to the present hour, is made ui) of thr most jni; 
portant ej)Ochs in the annals of our race. Amongi^t.'the 
greatest of these is that whicdi in:iugnratcd the struggjc (if our 
forefathers for National ludependcnee, founded, Jis,, it^.waj ,,., 
on the self-evident trtiths contained in that imnmrtai D-clar- 
ation, which has been transmitted to us. ;Surruiinded by ^•'^ 
galaxy of imperishable names, which addi-n th;vt period of" pur 
history, brighter and more prominent th.-ni all others is "thr 
name of Washington. It is no di: j)arag( nient to tlie nobv' 
band of patriots, who sealed with tlicir bl'),od their' 4c votioi': 
to the cause of human liltertv, or wlio have left nndving'evi- 
dence of their faith and trust in U'ul. to .- 'y that lie. whoso 
birthday we now celebrate, was -'first in war, first in peace. 
and first in the hearts of his countrymen." 

Mr. President, bad the opinions and vie\\.- .>i Wa.'ihingt^jn, 
on the subject of slavery, obtained, in iln- eirlief bistory of 
our government, had they bec^n heed'd by the ma!>s('S of hi- 
own Virginia at that time, this most wicked i>f aU,. rebellions 
would never have darkened the world witli its horrors, and our 
present calamities would never lia\c come upon us. These 
calamities are only the wages of tlie sin of liiiinan Sbnrry. 
Slavery wliieli in an hour of our nal ional weakness, had fouml 
a lodgement in the Constitution its'.df, in defiance of th(> great 
principles upon which that Constitution was founded, and 
which, like another imp of hell, has turned to devour the very 
mother whose breasts were filled with milk upon ^vliieh ilw 



foul ficiid iiiav hiivi' sulistitutcd tlii-ouy;li all comin"- time, if 
^' trod 'k Laws Were not strong.-r than the laws of men. 

Mr. I*i\si;lriii, h.id tlic (luctrine contained in the Declura- 
•:;i II o{ Itidrpendouce been carried out to it.s lo^rical t^ciputnce, 
had the opinion.^^ of Washington, JefTerson, Henry, Madison 
nid other ;:: .at aames of the Virginia of our revolutionary 
period, heeu heeded by the delegates of sister colonies, this 
most wicked of all rebellions would not ni)w threaten to en- 
giilph the w!,(.!e n.-.tion; the rivers of Iilood which are now 
being <hed would never have flowed, and the ghastlv heca- 
tombs of (jui- patri'.tic .sons and brothers Avould not have been 
piled up on so liiany bloody fields of fratri idal strife. Vir- 
ginia, to-day, the home of Washington and Jefferson, and in 
whose bosom sleeps the sacred ashes of her immortal dead, 
would nor hold in her embrace the foul nest of vipers who 
seek to sting the nation's life, to destroy the freest government 
on earth, th:it slavery may live, that an Empire may be estab- 
lished, founded on human skulls and human, slavery. 

In referring to our Jlevolutionary period, it is but just and 
charitable to remark, that the foumlers of government lived 
in times Avhen they were surrounded by old abuses, when men 
were educated to believe that slavery was a necessity if not a 
positive right. Yet the the minds of Washington and Jeffer- 
son, spurning the teachings of a false th«ok)gy, looked beyond 
the question of their own times, and proclaimed that "Liberty 
is the birthright of all men." To a certain extent, every man 
is the creature of education and circumstances, and great as 
Washington wa> in his moral attributes, yet it could not have 
been expected of mortal, that his opinions were not modified 
by the comlition of public sentinu-nt on this subject through- 
out the civilized world. For be it remembered, that at that 
period no christian power had inhibited the foreign slave trade 
or declai-ed. it a felony on the high seas. The pious J.as Ca.-v- 
ses had proposed, .with the >eeming approbation of all the 
christian powers, that the African Mi.,iiM be substituted fur 
the Lidian as :i slave, aud iherjjiiy . hoj/cd k, <-(.uven to Chris- 
tianity, thn.tn^h tlh- m5u;jts ,^|; )^/j^'i:^.v;•^ t!'-^ h.^ithei, trib. ■. -.-f 



12 

that ill-starred land of the sun. 8uch was the condition of 
public sentiment throughout all cliristendom, on the subject of 
slavery, when the great Charter of Freedom was proclaimed 
on the 4th of July, 1776. 

Yet notwithstanding this moral darkness which had fallen 
on the nations of the earth, you may search in vain for one 
word that ever fell from the lips or pen of Washington that 
justifies human slavery. He was the owner of slaves, to be 
sure, but only such as came to him by inheritance from his 
ancestors, and he closed his great life by giving a sublime and 
godlike example to his countrymen in emancipating every 
slave on his estate, and conferring upon them, as far was in 
his power, the boon of freedom. 

His was an intellect that could not be chained by the letters 
which bigotry imposes on her votaries. No matter Avhat may 
have been the conclusions of other men, drawn from false 
premises, he, as by an intuitive sense of what was right, 
soared above the narrow prejudices of his age. and at a single 
bound placed his feet on the eternal rock of truth. In mat- 
ters of religion he was not a strict conformist of his times, 
and in many things he may have been considered unorthodox. 
Yet he was a firm believer in all those great principles which 
underlie the faith of the christian. He believed in all of 
those principles which give courage and hope to the good of 
all ages, and whilst he spurned the narrow creeds of the bigot 
his great soul, simple and reliant in its faith as the little child 
whom Jesus took in his arms and blessed, turned from the 
pride, gratitude and homage of a nation, and prostrated itself 
at the cross of a risen Redeemer. But it is principally as a 
statesman and patriot that his character challenges our love 
and veneration. It would seem that Nature had gathered up 
all the great qualities which had appeared in the diff"erent 
persons of all ages, who have left their names on the scroll of 
fame, and concentrated them all in his singular character. 

If he was great like Caesar, he possessed his greatness 
without his ambition. If he was as unpretending in his man- 
ners as Fabius or Cincinnatus, he possessed their simplicity 



13 

with a personal Jio;nity unknown to them. His stern love of 
justice would have cliallen<Ted the admiration of the first 
Brutus, and his lofty and godlike patriotism the veneration 
and homage of the second. Yet there was no cruelty in his 
nature, nor ingratitude in his heart. He stood in the midst 
of his compatriot heroes as fixed in his principles as the law 
of gravitation itself, and no stranger ever approached him, 
whether on his tedious march, in his military tent, in the cham- 
bers of state, or amidst his flocks and herds at his own Mount 
Vernon, without being more thoroughly impressed with his 
inherent qualities of greatness. 

The old maxim "if you would know how little a great man 
is, ask his footman or valet," did not apply to him, for fewer 
weaknesses belonged to him than to almost any other mortal, 
in all the ages which have come down to us. Such was the 
'Father of his Country.' Who would attempt or dare to draw 
a comparison between him, as the. great leader of our war of 
Independence against the hostile legions of the mother coun- 
try, and the perjured traitors, who, as if by the retributive 
laws of God, are now permitted to head the armies fighting in 
the cause of treason, and which are laving waste with fire 
and sword, not only Virginia, the home of Washington, but 
every southern State which contains in her bosom the poison 
of slavery, which has stimulated this national death. Did I 
say national death? No, no, I do not mean that, although 
this war was intended as such, for under God it shall prove 
the resui'rection and the life of this nation. "The wrath and 
folly of man shall praise God, and the remainder He will re- 
strain." 

But to return. It has sometimes been said that if the 
American Revolution had proved a failure, that the name of 
Washington would only have been known as that of an exe- 
crated traitor made prominent only from the fact that he was a 
rebel chieftain. Such is not the fact. We have all cotempo- 
raneous history to assure us of the contrary. Throughout the 
entire mother country with her dependencies, from the hum- 
blest cottage of the peasant to the chamber of royalty itself. 



his qualities of hcai-t wouM li.ivc cliallenged the respect and 
admiration of cv^en his accusers, and if in the stern execution 
of public law he had been m:ide to suffer as the political Mes- 
siah, yet his blood would have consecrated the scaffold and the 
block, and waslied out every stain u))on his moral character as 

' r 

a man. • :, ii -.. 

If there is an admirer of the present head leader ol this 
rebellion, whose hands are dripping with the blood of fratri- 
cidal murder, and whose soul is blackened wiili perjui'j too 
deep to be forgiven short of the infinite mercies of God, let 
him not flatter himself that his "model hero," when history 
shall pronounce its inexorable judgment, will receive at its 
bar the credit of having possessed any other (jualities than 
those which adorn the exalted villain. 

But I must not detain you longer on this branch of my sub- 
ject. It rejuains to be considered wheth-T the j)atriotic men on 
this continent, men who believe in the doctrine proclaimed by 
our fathers, that libert^^'is the birth-right of all men, 
will abandon the government and Hag of Washington^ 
and succumb to traitors in arms, wlio are striking at the na- 
tion's life. How is that to be doneV How is the government 
to be maintained? There is but one possible way under 
Heaven, and there should be but one. That is, this nation 

must "PAY ITS vows TO THE MOST HIGH GOD." She must 

lionestly carry out in their logical sequence, the great princi- 
ples which were held as self-evident truths, and \Nliich are the 
key note of the Declaration of Independence its'elf. This 
much the signers of that immortal instrument promised, be- 
fore God, to do — for they appealed to "the Supreme Judge of 
the world for the rectitude of their intentions, and relying on 
the protection of Divine Providence, they pledged to each 
other their' lives, their fortunes, and their sar.red Jwrior. " 

In all aijiJS of the world, in all countries, and amongst all 
mt^n, l)e they civilized or barbari.wi, a vow made to the living 
God has ever been looked upon as a sacred thing, not to be 
violated or disregarded with impunity. If there is an exccp- 
lion to this rule, I have never seen it in tlic history of any 



3 ^^ 



13 

people. No matter what his faith may be, such an a6t haf^ 
hcoii rem Mibcrod ;is a coiusecratioii of his (•(inscieiu'e to that 
Sn]>r(.".ii>' Puwer whi<-!i is supposed to control, not only th^^ 
actions of men. Iiiit of nations. 

The TiiM" ilst'lf is full of these exaMiplcs, sometime?'" 
fraufi^ht \\ith a ci'urlty shockinc; to our senses, and which 
seems only to confirm the obligation on the soul of h»m who 
has made his "vow ]»efore the Lord. " ■' 

''If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath \.6 
bind his soul with a l)i)nd, he shall do all that proceedeth from 
his mouth, thus saith the Lord." 

Mr. President, fellow citizen.-, di<l our forefathers vow "a'" 
vow unto the Lord" which has not been performed? did they 
"take an oblisration on their soids which bomnl them as with a 
bond." and for th<' j)erforuiance of which they pledged the 
nation's life? If so, it is not strange that we have lived to 
see such times as have fallen to our lot. Never before, in the 
histor}' of the world, was a more solemn vov. made unto the 
Lord, '"the Supreme Ju<lge of the worbi." than that made by 
our fathers, as they arose from their supplicating knees, with 
that baptismal vow fresh upon tiieir lips. A[)pealing to the 
Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of their inten- 
tions, and, "with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine 
l^rovidence." tbev proclaimed these principles, which they 
declared to be so plain, th t tlu-y were "self-evidc iit truths" 
upon which they founded oui" govei-iiment. 

"We hold tlii'sr truths to be self-evident, t! it all men are 
created equal, thnt they are endowed by tht ir Creatcr vith 
certain inalienable rights, atuongst which are life, liber'; , and 
the pursuit of haj.piness." 

Mr. Preside-nt, ladies, gentlemen, do we believe to-day in 
that declaration of our forefathers? and if so, do we also be- 
lieve in a su])eriiit(nding I*rovi(lence ? Are Ave professed 
christians in our beliet' ami doctrine, and atheistical in our 
practices? \'{ that is so, the fault is only aggravated in as 
much as we add th:- .-^in lif hypocrisy to a violated obligation. 

That was at a time when our forefathers felt that the" 
shackles of slavery were being placed on their own lirabsV 



^\\, 



19 



but inspired by the free atmosphere of this new world, and 
contemplating the majestic phenomena of mountain, forest, 
river, and, ocean with its eternal hymn, and "looking up 
through Nature to Nature's God," caught the inspiration of 
Liberty which for ages had dwelt in caves and dungeons. 

Under this inspiration the immortal Declaration was writ- 
ten, and the nation's "vow" deliberately made to the most 
high God. It was here that the nation's life was pledged to 
the "Supreme Judge of the world" for its faithful perform- 
ance, and as if prophetic of the future, the first blood that 
was shed in defence of the principles upon which that Declar- 
ation was based, was the blood of a colored patriot at the bat 
tie of Lexington. 

The self-evident truths contained in that immortal Declara- 
tion, were freedom's evangel, and applied alike to all ages 
and peoples. Centuries are but as days in the life of a nation, 
as a thousand years is but as a moment in the presence of the 
Almighty, and no matter what breaks may be placed on the 
wheel of human progress, no matter how long may seem to 
us the night of despotism, or how many weary rounds the 
watchman may travel on his lonely beat, before the star of 
liberty shall burst on his enraptured vision, yet as God lives, 
the hour will come and the gospel of a new dispensation and 
political faith, founded on that Declaration of our fathers, 
will smite with its avenging rod the last foe to the doctrine of 
universal liberty of man. Thrones, crowns, and scepters, 
shall fall before those self-evident truths, as stubble is con- 
sumed before the devouring flame. 

It is "the still small voice" that fell on the ear of the an- 
cient prophet, and which succeeded the tempest, the thunder 
and the eartlujuake. And yet to the shame be it said of cer- 
tain politicians ( 1 will not call them statesmen) it has been 
inculcated amongst their followers, that this grand category of 
truths was not intended to embrace men of all countries and 
nationalities, but was confined in its application to the people 
of the colonies, merely, who had arisen in arms against the 
usurpations of the British Crown. Finally, I believe, that 



17 

the rendering of its meaning w?is so far extended, as to em- 
brace all nationalities represented on this continent, whose 
votds were sought in the sacred name of democracy to elevate 
to power the advocate and friend of human slavery! That 
monstrous perversion of what our fathers called "self-evident 
truths," made at the behests of the slave powers, to men who 
knew better, but for the love of office would assert a lie^ which 
they never believed, yet who consented to do so that they 
might catch the votes of the prejudiced and ignorant, 

"Is that forbidden fruit whose mortal taste 
Brought death into the world, with all our woes." 

But let us return to the enquiry, did our fathers vow a vow 
unto the Lord, and if so, has it been performed ? Mr. Pres- 
ident, that "vow" was made before the Supreme Judge of the 
world. It was made in an hour of darkness, when the scaf- 
fold, the block and the dungeon were in plain view. I have 
never allowed myself to believe for a moment, that they were 
not honest and sincere when they published this Declaration 
to the world. These truths were the fundamental principles upon 
which our ancestors erected a government which they hoped 
would endure forever, and which should be to the oppressed 
of all nations "as the shadow of a great rock in a weary 
land." 

If, on the contrary, I could believe for a moment that ^this 
solemn declaration was made with mental reservations, and 
only intended to embrace their own condition, then indeed I 
should not only lose all respect for their patriotism but confi- 
dence in the declarations of all men. But I thank God that 
this foul slander cannot be successfully charged against the 
noble band of patriots who laid the foundation of our govern-'— 
ment, on the eternal rock of truth, and cemented it with their 
blood. All cotemporaneous history places this question be- 
yond a doubt. We have only to refer to the writings of the 
authors of the Declaration itself, and the cloud of witnesses 
which history adduces, to prove the facts beyond the power of 
successful contradiction. "Washington and Jefferson them- 
selves, and the great men with whom they were associated in 
the early history of our government, with but here and there 

(3) 



18 

a^solitary exception, lived and died the uncompromising oppo- 
nents of human slavery. Mr. President, I could occupy much 
more time in demonstrating this proposition, but it is unnec- 
essary to detain you longer on this branch of my subject. 

Time passed on, the generation of patriots disappeared one 
by one from the stage of life and slept with their fathers. A 
new generation succeeded, and, for causes to which I shall 
hereafter allude, no ordinary man, either in Virginia or in any 
other of the slave-holding states, south of Mason's and Dix- 
on's line, could oppose the wicked and blasphemous preten- 
tions of slavery, without danger of incurring public odium. 
The independence of the United States had been acknowl- 
edged by the haughty power with which we had contended 
through seven long years of bloody war, on so many battle 
fields, which had drank the life-blood of our patriotic country- 
men. 

Peace again returned, and commerce spread her white 
wings. We gathered up the bones of our fallen heroes, and de- 
posited them in honored graves. Our merchantmen visited 
every sea and ocean, and our flag became respected in all 
climes. The invention of the Cotton Gin, by Whitney, and 
the Steam Engine, by Fulton, gave a new impetus to the 
planting interests in the slave states; and to navigation on our 
far-stretching rivers, rolling their resistless floods ever to the 
sea. Slavery became a question of dollars and cents, and 
whilst few men dared to assert that it was right, the many 
thought its practice justifiable from necessity. As the mem- 
ory of our eventful struggle in the war of independence 
passed away and became fainter and fainter, the voice of God 
and of conscience was hushed in the hearts of a nation, AA4iose 
progress in all that constituted material wealth, was without 
an example in the history of the world. As the great ships 
swung at easy anchorage, in front of our warehouses and 
wharves, piled and crammed with the products of slave labor, 
men of all parties and creeds forgot at the time that each bale 
and parcel__was soddened with the blood and tears of the un- 
paid bondsmen, and, in their greed for gain, forgot the 



19 <^^^ 

nation's "vow" to "the Supreme Judge of the worhl." 

Here and there miglit be found some great soul who, dis- 
daining wealth and place and power, spoke out against the 
wrongs of Slavery with a warning voice, who feared not to 
"scatter the living coals of truth upon the nation's naked 
heart," but still the myriad spindles whirred in our great fac- 
tories, and the boating of ten thousand looms drowned the 
voice of even conscience itself. 

Yet there stood the nation's vow, unpaid and uncancelled in 
the sight of the Eternal One. During all of this time our 
people were not slow to manifest their appreciation of liberty 
so far as national emblems and devices were concerned. We 
wrote Liberty on everything, below, and around us. The 
great seals of the government and all its departments had Lib- 
erty engraved upon them. Our starry flag had that talis- 
manic word beneath the liberty cap of the ideal goddess. It 
streamed from the beak of the fierce standard bearer of Jove, 
as it clutched in its talons the sheaf of thunderbolts. Each 
sovereign State followed the example, and '•'•Sic Semper Ty- 
rannis" was the crowning glory and shame of the great moth- 
er of Presidents. Not content with this, at our national mint, 
we stamped "liberty" on gold, silver, and copper, down to the 
value of half a cent over the head or through the brain of 
the star-eyed goddess. We forgot, in our folly and madness, 
that each penny and half penny that went into the hands of 
the crouching slave was an indictment against us, as a nation, 
before the bar of God, upon which, sooner or later, we should 
be brought to trial and judgment. 

Was this paying our vows to the most high God ? Was this 
the fulfillment of that obligation which our fathers took upon 
their souls, and for the fulfillment of which they pledged the 
nation's life. Oh no, it was a mockery, a solemn and wicked 
mockery. For though, Mr. President, we may festoon the 
heavens above us with emblems of liberty — though the green 
earth beneath our feet may be carpeted Avith aphorisms of Di- 
vine Truth — though we may write Liberty on every blade of 
grass in the fields, or over these mighty plains around us, and 



"^ ■* fie 

give a tongue to every leaf in the forest to swell tlie hymn of 
Liberty on every passing breeze ; yet so long as one innocent 
human being stands in our midst vainly appealing to us, with 
uplifted and fettered hands, bought and sold at the will of 
another who claims to bo his owner by virtue of public law, it 
gives the lie direct to all our pretensions and high-sounding 
moral assertions. 

Then came the era of what statesmen and politicians called 
conservatism^ but really the worst radicalism for evil. Con- 
servatism was the '■'■sina quenon' with all men who hoped for 
preferment in either church or State. Conservatism laid its 
mesmeric hand upon the nation's heart, and its pulse ceased 
to beat only in quick and feverish strokes, as that great heart 
was fired with the hope of new acquisitions of territory, by 
conquest or otherwise, for the extension of human slavery. 

The sacred desk became pointed by this moral leprosy, and 

although the reverend Doctors, with gown and surplice, shrank 

at first from the justification of slavery ^^per se," yet they 

hesitated not to rack their brains in emascula<"in2 the word of 

God, and in (i[uieting the guilty consciences of their client 

communicants, by repeating the story of Paul and Onesimus, 

and of Jacob and his bond servants, and the number born in 

his house. 

"Oh shame, where is thy blush?" 

Well may we apply the words of the indignant poet : 

"Just Allah, what must be thy look, 

When such a wretch before thco stands, 
Turning the pages of thy sacred Book 
With most detiled and blood-stained hands, 
And drawing from its text Divine 
A charter for his blood and crime." 

On and on sailed our great ship of State freighted with the 
hopes of the human race. Here and there close observers 
had noticed that a bolt had started, a staunchion had given 
way, or a seam yawned, but cotton had taken the place of 
okum, and she swung out into an unknown sea. The land- 
marks of the Constitution disappeared one by one, and the 
headlands, which lay beyond the dangerous shoals and reefs, 
we beheld with longing eyes, and steered with sealed log, and 
with chart and compass thrown overboard, for their green 



21 -^^ 

Bavannahs. The slave power was at the tiller and on the quar- 
ter deck. Each phice, indeed, from hold to round top, was 
filled with picked men, shipped in their own ports. If there 
was a single exception to this rule, it could only have been 
found amongst the coal heavers and the scavengers of the deck. 

Mr. President, unpleasant as it is to recur to these things, 
yet truth demands that it should be ^iowe. God knows that 
this is a most unpleasant duty for me to perform, but standing 
here as I do on tliis occasion, I will not shirk from its full 
performance. I would much rather, if it were in my power, 
go backward, like the sons of the ancient patriarch, and throw 
the mantle of charity over the nakedness and shame of my 
country, but I have no garment large enough to do that. 

Liberty was cloven down in the house of Rer pretended 
friends, and justice and judgement and mercy were turned 
aside in the streets. The sacred guarantees of the constitu- 
tion, securing to the citizen everywhere under its protection 
the liberty of speech, the freedom of the press, and the right 
of conscience, were disregarded by the maddened votaries who 
knelt at the shrine of the great idol. 

The holy temples dedicated to the living God were closed 
against all such as dared to declare the whole gospel of a cru- 
cified Redeemer. The public mails, although transported 
principaly at the expense of the people of the free States, were 
ruthlessly plundered and violated with impunity at open noon 
day, by officers sworn to protect them, if not by connivance 
of government itself, and their contents burned in the pres- 
ence of the shouting mob, providing these sacred receptacles 
of business, love and aff'ection of our countrymen, jontained a 
sentiment or paragraph against human slavery. 

And pray tell me, why was this violation of all law and 
order by the slave power, which at that time controlled all 
departments of the government ? There never has been and 
never will be but one true answer, and that answer is heard 
in the same voice of the unclean spirit of olden times, when it 
cried out before the accusing Christ, "why hast thou come to 
torment us before our time." 



^ 22 

They were guilty before God of a heinous sin, whichrevery 
human being must confess at the bar of his own conscience, 
if he would square his own acts by that rule which religion 
and faith in Christ imposes on his followers : 

"Whatsoever ye would that men should do'unto you, do ye 
even so unto them." 

The standard works in our public schools and seminaries, 
which even by implication condemned] human slavery, were 
either emasculated or wholly forbidden to cross the threshold 
of a southern schoolroom. 

Our great benevolent societies. North and Southj'^with only 
here and there an exception, and whose ostensible purpose in 
their organization was the diffusion of christian knowledge 
to the benighted nations of the earth, and "to preach Christ 
and Him crucified," at length paid willing tribute to this un- 
holy power, and with the price of blood in their treasury, es- 
tablished an index expurgatorius which made it impossible for 
a paragraph to be printed in their millions of pages which 
contained the slightest censure against the great national sin. 

This was the culmination of that guilty power which at last 
dared to raise its blood-stained hand against the nation's life. 
Indeed in this it would seem that judicial blindness had fallen 
on the whole land. 

"Whom the gods intend to destroy they first make mad.'' 
Each generation had produced some mighty name whose prov- 
ince it was to give tone to public sentiment. But no matter 
what may have been his early education, no matter on what 
spot his infant feet may have first pressed his mother earth, 
or his young eyes had opened on the blue heavens, still this 
same power, by its infernal magic, could turn him from his 
path of duty and finally mould him to its imperious will. 

Need I stop here and stain my manuscript with my very 
tears — for alas, when I remember the names of those who 
have fallen, shorn of their godlike strength of intellectual 
power for good, and made to kneel at the polluted shrine of 
this foul Idol, I might well exclaim, in the language of the 



23 



JfJL-Z- 



old Roman, "Friends, countrymen and lovers, if vou have 
tears prepare to shed them now." 

Alas, alas, there comes one from out that shadowy throng 
with the same look of sadness that was on his brow when he 
saw his betrayal, and sick of life and the world, "he went 
home to die by the sounding sea." 

Godlike mortal ! thou who hast put on immortality, pardon, 
oh pardon, if this shall be a desecration of thy memory. At 
a time like this it is my duty, if need be, to call back the 
very dead for my witnesses. Do you remember that speech 
"under an October sun ?" Dou you remember the 7th of 
March in the Senate of the United States ? It was the Ides 
of March to him — when the greatest intellect that has ever 
adorned the forum or the halls of Congress was prostituted to 
the task of apologizing for slavery, and justifying its exten- 
sion over vast tracts of free territory, in view of the nomina- 
tion to the Presidency at the hands of the slave power. Here 
it was, that the great defender of the constitution appeared 
as the hired attorney of his imperious clients, without even 
securing a retainer, and this too, when in his earlier manhood 
he had lashed, with his indignant and unsurpassed eloquence, 
the infernal wrongs of the very system, which, in his ripened 
manhood, he feared to condemn. 

If such an one, on whose noble brow 

"The very gods had set their seals 

To give the world assurance of a mar," 

was not able to withstand the seductive charms and the wiles 
of the tempter, what need we have hoped from that mi'-'hty 
swarm of sycophants and office-seekers, who were ever ready, 
for the hope of place, to prostrate themselves at the feet of 
the foul idol. 

Mr. President, I drop the curtain on this most painful of 
all pictures of disappointed ambition. Indeed 

"What shadows we are, and what shadows we pursue." 

Well might this greatest of all living men, as the light 
faded from his vision, repeat in tones modulated for his last 
adieu to earth : 



"The curfew tolls the knell of parting day, 
The lowing herds wind slowly o'er the lea, 
The plowman homeward plods his weary way, 
And leaves the world to darkness, and to me." 

Sleep, thou honored dead, in thy quiet grave. Thou hear- 
est not the storm of battle, nor feelest the earthquake tread 
of contending armies — and yet, strange that one so gifted as 
thou wert, did not see, with clearer vision, the approaching 
conflict between ideas and systems which can never be recon- 
ciled, and above all, that thou didst not remember that the 
"nation's vow," so long recorded in the chancery of God, had 
not been paid. 

And yet, candidate after candidate for the purple robes of 
the Presidency entered the arena, and, after a brief hour, 
was thrust aside, or thrown into the great spoilarium, where 
the maimed political gladiators were neglected to die without 
shriving of absolution. 

In the meantime. State after State had been added to the 
great Republic which had refused to pay its "vows to the 
most high God." The six hundred thousand slaves had 
swelled, through each decadal census, until they reached four 
millions. Free territory had been conquered from a feeble 
and distracted sister Republic, for no other purpose than* the 
extension of human slavery. No matter how this result may 
have been averted, yet any well informed mind knows that 
such was the intention. 

In the national capital, in the very presence of the bronze 
statue of the author of the Declaration of Independence, Avith 
that immortal scroll still grasped in his bloodless hand, slave 
prisons and baracoons were erected, so loathsome in their ap- 
pointments, so shocking to humanity, that the very Turk 
would have cast them down to their foundation stones for the 
gloi'y of God. 

Families and kindreds once honorable, and dating back to 
the darlier and better days of the Republic, quit planting to- 
bacco and corn, and, without figure of speech, planted the ne- 
gro instead. The harvest was not only profitable but bounti- 
ful, and Virginia, the home of Washington, with "iS'i'c semper 



^ 



Sf'i 



tyrannic' for her mottp, boasted l;h9,^. in a singly jepJC ^he h^ 
sold for the southern market, thirty-^tven rtMUon^ of dollar^, 
ivortJi oi h.e\' o\ii\ children! During all of this harvest of 
crime the slave breeders of Virginia might have heard that 
voice of warning, from beneath the marble slab at Monticello, 
" I tremble for mj country when I consider that God is just,' 
and that his justice will not sleep forever." 

7 

The whole nation had not only denied the faith of our rev-t 
olutionary fathers, but of God and His Christ- Powerful de- 
nominations, consisting of the vjyioup religious sect?, entered 
with eagerness the arena of public disquisition, and vied with 
each other in proving that slavery is not merely a necessity 
but is right in principle. The Methodist Church South, ^ 
branch of that church which had been built up under the 
teachings of Wesley, Whitfield and others, changed its severe 
moral discipline, and made slaveholding not merely honest but 
consistent with christian character and fellowship, and thif, 
too, in the face and teeth of the testimony of its great 
founder, that '"Slavery is the sum of all villanies." ^^hejf 
were not alone in the desecration of the religion of lli|n who 
came to "'comfort the poor and the lowly, to open the prisoii 
doors to those that were bound." Yet the God of the op- 
pressed withheld his red right hand. The bondsman cried out 
from the burning fields of his unpnid toil, and from his prison 
house, ""oh Lord, how longV" and still the muttering thunders 
were hushed, the threatening clouds that lowered in the south- 
ern horizon, charged with their vengeful lightnings, were com- 
manded back to their silent caves, to be marshaled forth in 
God's own time. The very government itself was organized 
on the single idea that there were no other rights to be main, 
tained than those claimed by slavery, under a pervctted 6on- 

stitution. 

M,,rri 
No man could hope to reach the Presidential chair, uortHof 

Mason's and Dixon's line, unless he was t^ie supplest tool and 

the meanest of all slav^,^ ,*1^ npr.^Uerp Bfiap. with southern 

principles." 

Ip,,all the cfpu^^ts of Europe, in th,e national CongrewV o^ 

(4) ' 



i.^^. 



ini Supreme Bench,' in the army and naVy, sliavery had her 
representative men, and with scorn and insolence denied pre- 
ferment to all others. 

During all this time, step after step was taken to make the 
condition of the slave even more hopeless, to drive from his 
soul every longing of his immortal nature — to teach him that he 
was not a man but a mere brute, who had been fashioned with 
human hands, and with the gift of speech merely for the con- 
venience of his master. Then came the fugitive slave law, 
whose paternity and authorship are clearly traceable to that 
delectable Virginia Senator, who to-day, is fugitive himself, 
a traitor and outlaw from his native land, whining and blus- 
tering at the courts of European Monarchies seeking aid and 
comfort in his attempt to overthrow the government oi' Wash- 
ington. I need not remind you here of the moiistrous provis- 
ions of that most disgraceful of all statutes that ever stained 
the honor of a Christian nation. Cotemporaneous history 
informs us that it was drawn up with little or no hope that its 
infernal provisions would be allowed, to .stand, })ut. on the 
contrary, would be rejected by northern voies, v.hereby a 
pretext would be furnished, at that time, for a southern move- 
ment having for its object the same ends as the present rebel- 
lion. But in this Mr. Mason and his counsellors were disap- 
pointed — they had not yet fathomed the depth of degradation 
to which their northern political servitors had consented to 
plunge, and the odious bill became a law, which still disgraces 
our statute book. 

Subsequently to this the two great political ]);u-iies, both 
dependent for success on the support of the slave power, met 
in quadrenial convention, not to pay the. nation's "vow to the 
most high God," but to bow their heads in the dust before their 
imperious masters. The great democratic party, whose very 
tatne a'ppealed to the confidence of men who had fled from the 
despotisms of the Old World to seek liberty and happiness 
under our starry flag — that party which claimed to be the 
party of progress — stultified itself by declaring that the fugi- 
tive glave law Was a ^na?iV^ ; ' and declaring further, as a party 



2J '^ ^^ 

njeasHiTe, that "all (^scussJMi and agitation o£ tl^e slavery ques- 
tipn'*^//i Congress was thereafter to be condemnea." "TKat, it 
would seem^^yvas bidding high for the blandishments and smiles 
of their souths rn masters, but they seemed to have forgotten 
that in less than -'one little month" their political rivals were 
to meet for the same purpose as that which called them together. 

This great part v, which for more than a quarter of a century 
had numbered amongst its members not only the demigods 
whose watch-words were "banks^.tariffs and American systems," 
but also the temperate, the moral, the religious, and the intel- 
ligv-nt masses, met and adjourned for the last time. Thus 
constituted, and wiser than their gener.4tion, their great leaders 
thought to bid higher for the glittering prize than even^ their 
political opponents. They ^^bad. at least a chance for the 
^'■second shot" at the political target, and might well take 
advantage "of wind and sunshine." And pray, sir, what did 
they do ? They had seen not a month before the great demo- 
cratic party, like beasts of burden, going, as it were, on all 
fours, in couples, as it is said the "living things" entered into 
the ark, readv to have laid on their submissive backs whatso- 
ever might be offered, no matter what, whether a live or a dead 
"nigger." But the last convention of the great whig party 
met and adjourned. They not only approached the presence 
of the grim idol on all fours, but they absolutely crawled on 
their very bellies, in the dust, as one by one they laid their 
offerings at the feet of the slave power, and they resolved, as 
a party measure, that from thenceforward they would "dis- 
countenance the agitation and discussion of the slavery ques- 
tion, either in Congress or out of it /" This was "the last 
ounce that broke the camel's back," and the star of the hero 
of Lundy's Lane paled before the hero of some nameless ditch 
in Mexico. 

Then came the repeal of t^ie Missouri compromise, and the 
Kansas troubles growing out of the same, with all of their 
ghastly horrors, of murder and rapine, where "the soul that 
is marching on" was educated in the school of Providence ; — 
then the Dred Scott decision, a case founded on a man of 



Straw, cut and dried for the occasioB, where it was solemnly 
announced, from the^highest judicial tribunal known to the 
government, that "under the constitution of the United States 
the descendants of African slaves can possess no rights that a 
white man is bound to respect." And here again, as if mad- 
ness ruled the hour, the great democratic party of this "free 
republic/' still willing to swear to whatever might be demanded 
of them at the hands of slavery, incorporated that decision 
into their party creed as a part of their political faith. Mr. 
Buchanan, the mere tool and creature of slavery, was in the 
Presidential chair. He was surrounded by a cabinet dictated 
by slavery. These constitutional advisers of the President, 
who had solemnly sworn to support the constitution of the 
United States, were engaged nightly in secret cabals, plotting 
treason against the government, from whoso treasury they 
drew their daily bread. Honest men at last fled from the 
presence of these perjured villains, and "the poor old man," 
the deluded and demented victim of his unholy ambition, was 
left to' th^ "vulture and' the roclc." 

Then came on another quadrennial election, when the free- 
men of America, through the forms of the constitution, chose 
their Chief Magistrate for the ensuing four years. Mr. Lin- 
coln was voted for mainly by men who were) opposed to the 
extension of slavery, but the great mass of his supporters were 
willing to let slavery remain in the states where it then 
.existed, in statu quo, as a sacred thing under the constitution. 
But before the time approached for the inauguration of the 
new President, there cnnte booming over the far-oflf waters of 
the south the roar of hostile cannon, pointed by rebel hands 
against the flag of our country. Then it was that the sleeping 
thunderbolts so long laid up in the magazine of heaven were 
called forth, for the cup of our iniquity as a nation was full. 
But preparations for the inauguration of the new President 
went on. That distinguished and honored. citizen had left his 
quiet home in one of the great free states, amidst the prayers 
and benedictions of an honest and confiding people, only to 
make his way to the capital of the nation, through a slave- 



29 

holding city and state, in disguise — really a fugitive — to take 
upon himself the solemn obligations incident to his high trust. 
His conservative friends boasted that his first official act was 
the enforcement of the fugitive slave law with a rigor unknown 
to his illustrious predecessor. 'T This was doubtless done with 
most patriotic intentions, but it was "too late." God's iiat had 
gone forth — "the pale horse and his rider'" were summoned, 
"and unto him was given the keys of the bottomless pit." 

But I must pass on. I have no time, Mr. President, to say 
all that should be said in this connection, and of necessity 
these poor words of mine must be most incoherent. The 
nation had become drunk as with the blood of the slavie. We 
turned a deaf ear not only to the voice of history, but to the 
voice of God. "Wo unto hjm who buildeth his house with 
unrighteousness, and his chambers with wrong ; that giveth 
not to his laborers their hire" — "Pay thy vows to the most 
high God" — were no longer words of solemn injunction and 
warning, to us. We had forgotten that the genius of ruin is 
ever stalking side by side with every false principle of goy- 
ernment, holding aloft "her darkened urn, from which she scat- 
ters the ashes of death. 

Then came the extra session of Congress, where, in sight of 
the gleaming of rebel bayonets, and almost in hearing of the 
"flap" of the rebel flag that defiantly flaunted in the morning 
breeze, it was then and there resolved that the federal govern- 
ment had no intention or desir,^, to interfere with the relation 
of master. and slave; and this, too, when there was not a man 
or woman in the nation who did not know that it was slavery 
that pointed every gun and loaded every cannon in this war of 
unparalleled infamy, for the destruction of the government 
founded by Washington and his immortal compatriots. And 
yet, the nation had not been thoroughly aroused from her 
slumbers of death. Many leading men, both in and out of 
Congress — yes, in the cabinet itself — seemed more anxious 
that slavery should escape injury than that the rebellion should 
be put down. 

And still, dav after dav and month after month hecatombs 



•^e-t f. 



of our patriotic sons and brothers were piled up on each disasr 
trous battle-field. Men stood r.ghast at this seeming. useless 
sacrifice of human lif'^. At the end of the first year the con- 
tending armies stood almost in statu quo, only with skeleton 
regiments, divisions and army corps, which had been decimated 
of the brave men who but a short time before had left their 
homes at their country's call, full of health, life;^and hope. — 
Our very commanders in the field, at the head of armies that 
went forth to fight the battles of freedom in the heart of a 
rebel country, were instructed to be very careful not to give 
offence to the quasi traitors who remained at home to watch 
their slaves, instead of going at once over to the rebel flag, 
around which, in their secret hearts, all of their sympathies 
and hopes clustered. The fleeing bondman, who sought pro- 
tection under the flag of the Union, and who offered to work 
or to fight ivitJiout pay, was told in jeering accents that "this 
was a white man's fight, "and that niggers had no business to 
meddle in it." Oftentimes he was rudely repulsed from with- 
in our lines, and told to go back and work for his rebel master ! 
In the mean time, one of our chief commanders, (sii>ce retired 
to civil life, and a favorite candidate for the Presidency of all 
such patriots as desire the restoration of '•'■the Union as it was, 
and the constitution as it /s,") in a printed proclamation assured 
the armed rebels, against whom he had been sent to fight, that 
they need have no concern whatever about a servile insurrec- 
tion, for if this should be attempted, the muzzles of his 
muskets, in the hands of Union soldiers, should first be pointed 
at the rebel slave, and to his rebel master afterwards ! 

Mr. Presiilent, wonderful, marvelous as these things may 
appear to those who may come after us, yet I have not 
made a statement that the truth of history will not vindicate. 
And equally as marvelous, we live at this hour in the midst of 
men, who seem to be sane on all other subjects, who to-day, if 
it were possible, would abandon this war for human liberty, 
and human nature^itself, and be content with such a peace as 
might be dictated by^rebels with arms in their hands. Sup- 
pose for an instant that such should be the case, that the 



3 ^Co 
81 

independence of the rebel government should be acknowledged, 
or that the old regime should again be restored, with "the 
Union as it was and the Constitution as it is" — that slavery 
should again be reinstated, with all of its blasphemous preten- 
sions, and with additional safeguards — that the same fields 
made' red with the blood of our sons and brothers, should 
again be cultivated by the crouching slave, beneath the lash 
of his taskmaster. Ye Gods, what a thought! Each horrid 
skull as it was turned up to the light of day, by the plow in 
the hamls of the slave, would look up accusingly to heaven, 
with its ghastly, eyeless-sockets, and the spirit of the departed 
would come shrieking on the viewless winds, to curse us for 
our perfidy and cowardice. The blood on an hundred battle- 
fields would cry out for vengeance against us; and the Genius 
of Liberty would visit our land only to smite it with her 
sword of flame. 

' ' In the name of our fallen heroes, let not such an inheri- 
tance fall to my children, or my children's children. Far 
better that chaos should come again, than that such an exam- 
ple should be set before the struggling nations. But such 
can never be the case. Such a peace is not within the range 
of possibilities. It can no more be done, than man can make 
a new heaven and a new earth. 

Mr. President, such is the dread indictnient which I have 
pressed against my country, and the slave power which has 
involved our nation in this fratricidal strife. Both are now 
upon their trial ; verily they are guilty before God, aad the 
only hope of our country, is to ask mercy and forgive:"' '^-~ at 

His hands. 

i.t' 

Reluctantly but surely, our whole people, whether in the 

loyal or rebel states, are beginning to comprehend the solemn 
truth, that we, as a nation, must "pay our vows to the most 
high God." The Proclamation of Freedom of January 1st, 
1863, was the first installment, but that will not satisfy the 
demand. 

"If a man voweth a vow before the Lord, or taketh an ob- 
ligation on his soul, that bindeth it as with a bond, he shall 



o^ Ji t, 

32 

do all that proceedeth from his mouth," "thus saith the Lord." 
And what must have been the extent of that judicial blindness, 
that moral darkness, that had fallen on this nation, when we 
consider that we have been goaded on to the only ark of our 
political safet}'^, emancipation, step by step, as if before the 
bayonets of our enemies. 

*' The mills of God grind slowly but they grind well." 

From the date of that Proclamation of Freedom, the politi- 
cal heaven began to brighten, and the clouds that lowered so 
darkly in our horizon, to show their "silver lining." And 
why should this not be so, are we infidel to God and his eter^ 
nal laws? or that He is unmindful of the affairs of men. 

Mr. President, I rejoice in the belief that the disposition of 
this question of slavery, has passed from mortal hands, into 
those of the Eternal One. " Prepare ye the waj an3 make 
my paths straight," is no longer the voice "of one crying in 
the wilderness," but it is heard on every wind that comes 
leaping over your mountains, or roaming through their. rocky 
canons. It is a ceaseless voice, that is crying out to the 
soldier on his weary march, amidst the roar of the battle-field, 
in his tent, as he sits by his camp fire, or on his perilous duty, 
as he makes his lonely beat, with no witnesses but the myriad 
eyes of God, that look down on him from the midnight heavens; 
everywhere in the midst of civil life, at the fireside, at the 
table where also are so many vacant seats, in the shop, in the 
field, in the factory amidst the crash and whir of ten thousand 
wheels, in the closet, the drawing room, the stirring assembly, 
the great marts of trade, the halls of Congress, at the coun- 
ters of the money changers, where stocks go up and down and 
gold bears a premium of " 52 per cent," still that voice is heard 
"Prepare the way and make my paths straight." "Pay thy 
vows unto the most high God." 

When we, as a nv.tion, shall have performed the?e sacred 
duties, when we have paid this vow of our fathers, made in the 
presence of the superior Judge of the world, peace will again 
return to our bleeding country, and not till then. The union 
of our fathers, the only ark of oiir safety, will then endure 



j^y 



33 



forever, for it Avill be cemented anew with the blood of our 
patriotic countrymen. These discordant states and communi- 
ties with institutions and laws which can never be reconciled, 
will then have become homogeneous, and we, in fact, will be- 
come one people, and one country, with a purer religion and 
a more exalted patriotism. Our ruined towns and cities will 
again spring forth, Phoenix-like, from the ashes of their deso- 
lation, and our desolated fields, uncultivated, with the plow 
left rotting in the furrow, will again be crowned with golden 
harvests and rustling sheaves. Our great ship of state, which 
now lies dismantled in the trough of the storm-tossed sea, with 
gory decks, slippery with the blood of patriots, will then once 
more right up, and, mounting the highest Wave, with penants 
flying, will not only be the mistress of the ocean, but of this 
mighty continent. Then, indeed, "the morning stars may 
again sing together, and all the sons of God may shout for 
joy," for a mighty nation will have been "redeemed, regener- 
ated and disenthralled, by the genius of universal emancipa- 
tion." Men of future generations will look back with a 
shudder at the dangers through which we are now passing, but 
they will bless and venerate our memories, and thank us, in 
the name of humanity, that we had the courage and the will 
to stand by the flag of our fathers, and to pay the nation's 
'*vow unto the most high God." 

Let us, fellow citizens, perform the duties that now devolve 
on us — -duties that we sacredly owe to ourselves, our God, and 
our country — and a thousand years hence, when our names 
shall be stricken from the records of the mighty past, and 
future generations shall celebrate the grandest epoch in the 
history of the world — the triumph of liberty over human 
slavery — when a great nation ''performed its vows unto the 
most high God," then that same starry flag — that proudest 
emblem amongst nations — shall float in triumph^over every 
hill, plain, valley and mountain of this mighty republic^ 



*J^ 



84 



ptbt^cting under its broad and starry folds millions and millions 
of happy freemen ; and still the shout shall go up as "the 
voice of many waters, as when deep answers unto deep," 

"Forever float that standard sheet ; 

Where breathes the foe but falls before us, 
With freedom's soil .beneath our feet, 

And freedom's banner streaming o'er us?" 



S^ 



fa;. .; 

CELEBRAl^ION 

Of the 22,d of Februwry, 1864, 

BY THE ■' 

XJKTIOlSr HiE-A^G^XJE 

OF DENVER, 

FOB THE BENEFIT OF THE 

SANITARY COMMISSION. 



EXERCISES AT THE DENVER THEATRE. 

Introductory Address, by Simeon Whiteley, President of 
Denver Council. 

Prayer by Rev. Geo. C. Betts. 

Reading of Washington's Farewell Address, by Henry 
C. Leach. 

Oration by Hon. S. S. Harding, Chief Justice of Colorado. 

The exercises were interspersed with music by the band of 
the First Cavalry of Colorado, and 

Patriotic Songs, by Capt. W. D. McLain. 

The entire audience took the oath of allegiance to the United 
States government. 

At the close of the oration Mr. Leach offered the following 
resolution, which was adopted unanimously : 

Resolved, That the thanks of this audience are hereby 
tendered to Hon. S. S. Hardino, for his able, eloquent and 
patriot i.Cv,addres3, and that a copy of the same be requested 
for publication. 

Hon. 'Geo. W. Lane moved that the thanks of the citizens 
of Denver be returned to the committee of arrangements for 
the admirable entertainment furnished. 






36 



Geo. E. Crater offered a series of resolutions endorsing 
the administration of Abraham Lincoln, as wise, honest and 
patriotic ; and recognizing in Abraham Lincoln the man 
raised up by Providence for the present emergency, cordially 
recommending his re-election. 

The entire audience rose to their feet, and adopted the 
resolutions, with nine cheers for Abraham Lincoln, the next 
President of the United States. 

After singing "Rally Round the Flag," the immense audience 
dispersed. "^ "' 

In the evening a grand ball was given at Blake & Williams' 
Hall. 

The net proceeds of the celebration was one thousand 

dollars, which was forwarded to the Sanitary Commission, 

New York City. 

Henry C.^Leach, 

Geo. E. Crater, Committee 

Clarence J. Clarke, > of 

W. D. Anthony, Arrangements. 

Eli M. Ashley, 



• 60 



o oauiranio^ oil} 03 h 






/••>;^-''°o w**,-a^i-\ /.y^..''°o ■ 






-^^0^ 
.^^°- 



t^-o^ 



-^.v^' 















X^ ♦ .cJ^^.* .A. A. *^R3w7^* ^>. XT' * 






.4 



^9^ . 



♦♦ ^ o^ * 




!P'?\ 



.-1<^X 









f^ 




I* . t • " •^- 



5. '.•^■<'~ J- o„ -JJ^/ 



'v/^«i- 
















^- ->> ^ t • 



















